Hollow Medical needles can be broadly classed as needles for the introduction of fluids into or removal of fluids from a body, or needles that act as conduits for guiding insert devices into a body. Insert devices include but are not limited to guide wires, stylets, obturators, optical devices, video devices, and endoscopes. A hollow Medical needle typically has an exit end terminated by a beveled pointed end defining a sharp edge designed to penetrate a body, such as the flesh of an animal. While an unused needle presents an unintentional puncture trauma hazard to a user or another, a used needle presents not only a puncture hazard but also a means for transmitting disease.
Medical needles for intravenous insertion are particularly susceptible to becoming contaminated with blood borne diseases such as HIV, Hepatitis B, and Hepatitis C. Consequently, many state and federal laws and regulations deal with the handling and disposal of such used needles.
Healthcare workers are particularly vulnerable to contamination from unintentional puncture trauma in handling needles after use and until proper disposal thereof. Unintentional puncture trauma can occur in numerous ways, such as in handing a used needle to another person or reaching for an item and contacting a used needle that has not yet been safely discarded.
Most prior art needle blunting devices, while designed to blunt used needles, do not protect healthcare workers for the entire time from termination of use to disposal. Such blunting devices are generally designed for insertion into a needle after it has been used. This procedure requires that the used needle be withdrawn, a blunting device obtained, and thereafter inserted into the used needle. In the case of a needle that functions as a conduit for an insert device, the needle is blunted by the insert device while the insert device is positioned therein, but it is “unblunted” after the insert device is removed and until a blunting device is installed. Consequently, there is a period when a used needle posses a hazard.
Medical needles also pose a potential unintended puncture trauma hazard to the body into which the needle is inserted, while inserted therein. For example, a needle once properly positioned in a vein, can unintentionally puncture the vein if inadvertently moved. This is a common concern in procedures where needles are used to provide passageways for insert devices. The needle presents a hazard until the insert device is inserted and the needle is blunted thereby. However, when one insert device is removed to be replaced by another insert device, the needle point is exposed during the interval between removal of the first insert device and insertion of the second.
Further, blunting devices are designed for use in conjunction with needles specifically designed to receive them. In other words, the blunting device and the needle are an integral system and must be used together. A blunting device for one particular design of needle will not work properly with another needle of a different design or visa versa.
Based on the foregoing, it is an object of the present invention to develop a needle blunting device that acts in conjunction with an insert device thereby eliminating, or substantially reducing, the time a used needle is not blunted.
Another objective of the present invention is to develop a blunting device for a needle that will blunt a needle in use after removal of an insert device from the needle.
It is a further object of the present invention to develop a blunting device for a needle that does not require alteration or special design of the needle with which it is used.